…Sports cancelled as traumatised New Zealand mourns shooting victims***
French yellow vest protesters have clashed with riot police
near the Arc de Triomphe on the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against
President Emmanuel Macron.
Protesters threw smoke bombs and other objects at officers,
and started pounding on the windows of a police van. Riot police then retreated,
as did a water cannon, with protesters kicking the side of the large truck.
Later, the water cannon unleashed bursts from a side street
to try to push protesters back. A burning vehicle was seen nearby.
Police have announced 20 arrests already as protesters try
to breathe new life into their movement against Macron and his policies.
After dwindling numbers in recent weekend protests, yellow
vest groups organized dozens of rallies and marches Saturday in the capital and
around.
In the meantime, a raft of top-class sports events were
cancelled in New Zealand on Saturday as a traumatised nation started burying
the dead from the worst peacetime mass killing in its history.
A lone gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 20 at
two Christchurch mosques on Friday in a shooting which Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern condemned as “a terrorist attack”.
Only one National Rugby League match went ahead in Auckland
on Saturday.
A horse racing meeting, a top class rugby union match, a
cricket test, and string of netball games were all scratched from the schedules
in the wake of the attack.
“This isn’t about cricket,” New Zealand Cricket chief
executive David White said when discussing the cancellations in his sport.
“It’s about something much bigger and much more important
than that. It’s about life, it’s about respect. It’s about family and
community.
“Cricket and sports takes a back seat to personal welfare.”
The third cricket test between New Zealand and Bangladesh,
whose team were on a bus approaching one of the mosques with the attack
underway, was cancelled on Friday.
The test was due to start at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on
Saturday but the Bangladesh team have now left New Zealand.
Their departure came less than 24 hours after the shooting
and about an hour after the initial scheduled start time.
The Super Rugby clash in Dunedin between the Otago
Highlanders and Christchurch-based Canterbury Crusaders, was called off on
Saturday out of respect for the victims and their families.
The Canterbury cricket team, one of six first-class sides in
New Zealand’s domestic Plunket Shield competition, also chose not to play their
final round match in Wellington.
This development has now handed the title to Central
Districts.
Canterbury were the only side with a mathematical chance of
catching Central Districts in the final round of games.
But their decision not to travel to Wellington for match
starting on Sunday gave the title to last year’s winners.
Chief executive Jeremy Curwin said Canterbury Cricket had
consulted with the players, who were given the opportunity to make their
decision whether to play the final game as individuals or collectively.
“The team showed a united front in terms of the decision,”
Curwin said in a statement.
“It is clear that this tragedy will affect people in
different ways, and Canterbury Cricket is here to support our players however
we can.
“We fully respect their decision, and I am incredibly proud
of how they conducted themselves throughout this process.”
New Zealand internationals Martin Guptill and Lockie
Ferguson, who play first-class cricket for Auckland, also withdrew from their
team’s match against Otago in Dunedin.
“Both Martin and Lockie felt personally uncomfortable making
the trip to Dunedin given the events in Christchurch, and also, the feelings
and concerns of their partners and families,” Auckland’s high performance
manager Simon Insley
said.
“We understand that at times like this, families come
first.”
While the Dunedin Super Rugby match was called off, the
Waikato Chiefs and Wellington Hurricanes did play a 23-23 draw in Hamilton, on
the North Island, on Friday night.
All Blacks and Hurricanes scrumhalf TJ Perenara admitted,
however, that the minds of the players had also been elsewhere.
“Today was bigger than rugby,” Perenara told reporters.
“Regardless of how that result went, that wouldn’t have been the most important part of my day. I don’t think anyone in this country, would say that rugby was the most important thing.”
Additional report from Fox News